Late
Antiquity & Dark Ages Sources

copyright 1997 by Historical Novelists Center

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Anonymous

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ****
Several manuscripts of this survive, the first part being Biblical
history, the useful part detailing English events up to 924.
In that year, many copies were distributed. That at Canturbury
was continued up to 1066, at Worcester to 1079, and up to 1154
in Peterborough. It was researched in or compiled out of older
sources, like the Mercian Register, the Northumbrian Gesta, or
the Battle of Brunanburh. Several translations are available.
T2

Anonymous

The Russian Primary Chronicle ****
Compiled in Kiev in the early twelfth century (a time when Europeans
suddenly became historically conscious, it seems), this covers
the earliest known historical legends of Russia, including the
coming of the Rus to power as the Viking brothers Riurik, Sineus
and Truvor, in the section called "The Legend of the Calling
of the Princes." S. H. Coss and O. P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor
published a translation in 1953, Harvard Press. T3

Bede (AKA Beda, Baedo, the Venerable Bede)

Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (A History
of the English Church and People) ***
The almost-contemporaneous account of the English (Anglo-Saxon)
invasion of Britain, and the conversion of the Saxon upper classes
to Christianity. Bede's guesstimated lifespan is 673-735. This
was composed about 731, and revised shortly thereafter. T2

Eginhard

The Life of Charlemagne *****!
As Eginhard was a member of the emperor's court, he was far too
sparse in his writing. Far better he had done a complete memory
dump, because there is no better or more reliable source on Charlemagne.
T2

Galfrai ab Arthur (Geoffrey of Monmouth)

Historia de Gestis Regum Britannia (The History
of the Kings of Britain) ***
Runs from legend to 688, the death of Cadwallader, king of Wessex.
Source of most Arthurian legend, including a lot of detail he
made up himself. About as reliable as Herodotos. Most accurate
when most recent. Written about 1147, by a man estimated to have
been born about 1100, and died about 1154. This is what people
of the time were willing to believe about the past. T3

Georgius Florentius (St. Gregory of Tours)

Historia Francorum (The History of the Franks)
****
Born in an aristocratic senatorial family of Gaul, living approximately
538-594. The first book of the History covers from legendary
days (Biblical style) through 397, the second the reign of Clovis,
Book 3 to 548, 4 to 575. Books 5-10 are virtual memoirs, recorded
from his own memory of events, 575-591. T2

Gildas

de Excidio Britanniae (The Ruin
of Britain) **
The Saxon invasion of Britain began in the fifth century. Gildas
wrote sometime during the first half of the sixth, making events
within recent memory or very new tradition. For early history,
he's almost an eye-witness! As the title tells you, he was one
of the British monks who was horrified at the pagan Germanic
conquest. His opinions are way over the top and considerably
distort history in order to foam at the mouth about the lowness
of his own people. T2

Cornelius Tacitus, Publius (Tacitus)

Germania (The Germans) ***
Written about 98 CE, it may seem a bit early, but not much else
discusses early Germanic culture, which gave rise to the Franks,
Burgundians, Lombards, Goths, Visigoths, Vandals, Norse, Angles,
Saxons, etc. See Websites below for a translation, or pick up
a free TXT copy at Gutenberg. T2

The Monk of St. Gall

Karoli Gesta (Life of Charlemagne) **
While as a child this monkish chronicler heard many direct tales
from the brother of Queen Hildigard, he is confused as to when
which pope or Greek emperor was alive, and his biography is already
getting clogged with folktales formerly told about other people,
now tagged onto Charles. Interesting reading, but not to be swallowed
whole. T3

Nennius

History of the Britons (Historia Brittonum)
***

Translated by J. A. Giles

Eighth century monk tells the legendary history of the Britons
and the Saxon invasion. Light-weight but atmospheric, showing
the beliefs of the educated, let alone the ignorant. Genealogies
at the end are a great source of male names. T2

Procopius

Secret History ****

Translated by Richard Atwater in 1927

Procopius wrote the official, laudatory history of the reign
of Justinian and Theodora, with all praise for the campaigns
of Belisarius, etc. His "Secret History" rakes all
the muck and dishes all the dirt, as if he could not stand to
let us believe his official history. T2

Saxo Grammaticus

History of the Danes ****

originally 1208

Not as obsessed with church matters as some chroniclers,
those these are still important. Covers from legend to 1202.
Early kings fight giants to win their queens, and generally fun
reading. T2

Snorri Sturlason

Heimskringla (The Chronicle of
the Kings of Norway) ****

Fifteen sagas of rulers, from the 8th C through the 12th:

Halfdan the Black Saga;

Harald Harfager's Saga;

Hakon the Good's Saga;

Saga of King Harald Grafeld and of Earl Hakon Son of Sigurd;

King Olaf Trygvason's Saga;

Saga of Olaf Haraldson (St. Olaf);

Saga of Magnus the Good;

Saga of Harald Hardrade;

Saga of Olaf Kyrre;

Magnus Barefoot's Saga;

Saga of Sigurd the Crusader and His Brothers Eystein and
Olaf;

Saga of Magnus the Blind and of Harald Gille;

Saga of Sigurd, Inge, and Eystein, the Sons of Harald;

Saga of Hakon Herdebreid ("Hakon the Broad-Shouldered");

Magnus Erlingson's Saga.

Research tier either T1 (get a feeling for the world of saga)
or T2 (you're easily confused by unfamiliar cultures not matching
what you expect).

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Websites

Official and Original Project Gutenberg Web Site
and HomePage*****!

http://promo.net/pg/

"Fine Literature Digitally Republished. Since 1971 putting
classic books into electronic form." You can download major
classics for free, each as a single big text file. Burn your own
reference CD-R.

MIT Classics department compiles the Perseus Project and other
sources. Includes Hippocrates, Homer, Xenophon, and a lot of others.
Each work (play, essay, epic) loads as a single page, making it
easy to Search for specific words, and has a Download option.
Very large works are available as one page or three, to cut time.
Get the "unlimited time for $20" deal from a direct
web service with a local access number for you, and you can consider
this site part of your home library that doesn't have to be dusted.
This is what we all hoped the Internet would be!

Halsall is collecting texts in translation, and also providing
links to other sites like Berkeley, so as not to duplicate effort.
This huge site links internally and externally to a list of period
works, from the late Byzantine-early Christian age to the early
Renaissance, and to ancient period sources, too. Wonderful source,
attractive without glitz, many matrices of approach (e.g., by
a topic like women's roles or by a period). Trying very hard to
include areas besides the sphere of the Latin church, notably
Byzantium and Islamic activities.